Alex Meskouris

Born and raised in New York, Alexander Meskouris thrived in school. Graduating at the top of his class in high school, he decided to pursue his post-secondary education. While attending his alma mater, Alexander began developing the skills that would eventually inspire him to create his own company. Once he had earned his bachelor’s degree, he quickly found a solid footing in the business sector. His first position taught him a great deal about finance and real estate, which he maintained an interest in throughout his life. He developed a dedicated passion for the real estate industry over time, which directly led to his decision to open his firm.

Now Mr. Meskouris pursues his dual passions in both property management and development. While these are separate ventures, the goals and results are the same: happy tenants and happy owners. In his off-hours, Mr. Meskouris enjoys traveling with his family, exploring restaurants both at home and abroad, and creating new and exciting experiences at every opportunity.

Where did the idea for your career come from?

The idea stemmed from things I learned in business. Dedicated to creating a positive living experience gave way to seeing where others lacked and I could improve.

Since I began on my own I’ve dedicated myself to improving how others experience their living engine environment. I want home to be the place where they relaxed as much as possible. Building projects should be beneficial to the new owners but also to the occupants that will move in.

High-quality materials play a key role in each building project and updates that might be done in building management for a client. Always providing quality work ensures no one will do the job again in a few days or months. Quality materials do not wear the same way budget ones do. This makes the investment worthwhile.

What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?

Daily, I wake up and meditate first. After that I’ll either get exercise in or breakfast then exercise. From there it’s soon into the office, email and miscellaneous tasks until the first meeting starts. From there, it’s meeting with my team until just after lunch. My focus then shifts to locations we own. I am hands on. It’s important to know your company so I make sure to get to sites needing work, or locations we’re working on.

How do you bring ideas to life?

Ideas come to life by integrating brilliant minds with the tools they need. I facilitate the items those brilliant minds need to bring an idea to reality. If it’s an idea I’ve got my team are the people I consult with. They take it over and make things happen.

What’s one trend that excites you?

I love home automations. They are also making options that allow us to better monitor the everyday monitoring concerns, like fire or monoxide levels. It’s exciting to know so many more options are in the works. We have a lot of wonderful things to look forward to as do the people living in our homes.

What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?

Routine is the most crucial part of what I do to be productive. While each day’s content changes, mornings are filled by meetings, afternoons are on site reviews. It ensures time management and family priorities are all cared for.

What advice would you give your younger self?

I would tell myself to have confidence and jump into your own business sooner. We learn lessons through the process, no matter if you’re working for others or yourself. Working for yourself sooner just gives you more time to build your business. It would have been great for me.

Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.

New York is truly the greatest city in the world. Nothing like the international community combined with the opportunity to explore and learn from one another. It is truly the greatest place to live and thrive.

As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?

Schedule your day by routine. The routine moves you from one step to the next smoothly. It becomes comfortable when you’re shifting from one task to the next because you always know what that next one is.

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?

Networking has been the strongest tool for me. It has provided me with many before listing locations for purchase. We’ve been able to develop a plan, make an offer, and obtain a great location. The building assessment follows and we sell it or shift it to our company’s management portfolio. Often when we are preparing to sell a location, we contact a number of people we’ve connected with in our networking efforts.

What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?

I learned how vastly different the requirements from one city to the next can be when I began developing buildings. This led us to create some unintended chaos, but this is when we contacted a specialist in this area and eventually hired someone to research and apply for the required project permissions and permits on our behalf. You must trust the people who are more experienced in an area than you are.

What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?

I think getting a site that shows luxury only locations would be fantastic. We don’t have anything that is dedicated to that market at this point and there are options that can’t be included in budget homes. It would be wonderful if we could have access to something in real estate like this.

What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?

I donated to my local pet shelter. Many shelters are hosting older pets of all kinds. Sweet, trained animals are being left in a building instead of loved by owners at home. I’m not in a position to adopt another right now, but donating on a regular basis helps ensure the animals are being fed and cared for.

What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?

My calendar keeps me on track. Every meeting is booked and planned with enough time to make it part of the day. Each site that needs updates we get on track and I typically know where I’ll be part way through the day before so it goes on my calendar as well. This information is sent to my phone and everything works out.

What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?

Rich Dad Poor Dad is a really inspirational read. If you haven’t picked it up, please do so. You won’t be disappointed. It really makes the information concise and helps you determine what needs to change and improve in your business.

What is your favorite quote?

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. – Mark Twain

This is why I’d tell myself to start my business sooner. It’s the truth. We should try whatever we can when we can and learn from it.

Key Learnings:

• Both internal and external clients are important
• Hire people who know their job and specialty, then trust them to do that job
• Learn from your mistakes, your peers, and your employees.
• Don’t give up on your drive for success